Maritime Adventures

June 16, 2016

The Maritime provinces in Canada are comprised of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Each province can trace their heritage back to fishing but have now transcended to their own identity.

I spent part of my childhood in the Maritimes and have gone back for several trips since then. When you return after many years it is always interesting to see what has changed, if any. Sometimes as the saying goes "You can't always go home!"

For many travelers, it is not about going home but a chance to have a unique vacation that can be combined with some photo tourism.

Each province offers unique photographic opportunities. Let's look at some of the possibilities.

Landscape photography in Fundy National Park

Travel photography in Nova Scotia

Food photography along the culinary trail in PEI

Wildlife photography in Newfoundland

There are many other opportunities for the avid photographer. The best thing to do before booking a trip to the Maritimes is to do some initial research. These days good travel books are available from Frommers, Fodors and the Lonely Planet. In addition there are a wealth of internet sites such as Trip Advisor, National Parks of Canada and the provincial government tourism sites. Readers of popular web photography web sites can also solicit information from other members.

Let's start out with some basic photo and travel advice to get you on your way.

Electricity is your standard 110 North American usage

Wireless data coverage is good to very good depending on how far off the beaten path you go. Expect 3G, 4G and LTE service in all of the provinces. Going off the beaten path you may encounter No Service or dead spots. This will happen when you are many kilometers from major towns and cities and this is most noticeable in Newfoundland.

Always check your Trip Advisor ratings for accommodations and restaurants. Experience has shown that if a lot of locals provide the ratings then the ratings will be skewed. Look more carefully at the ratings provided by out of town travelers instead of the locals.

Don't underestimate or overestimate driving times on your vacation. Your driving time may vary due to weather conditions, local traffic, road conditions, time of day, wildlife and the province you are travelling in. Tongue in cheek of course, everything in PEI is a 45 minute drive and in Newfoundland 4 hours between popular destinations is common.

Bump up your budget for driving expenses in the Maritimes. Fuel costs tend to be higher and in addition you may have to pay for increased costs for one way car rentals and trips by ferry.

From a humorous perspective it will take a full week to adapt to the Newfoundlander accent. Actually this is the same whether you travel to the southern U.S. or Australia. It takes a while, so be patient.

Take some basic precautions to protect your camera equipment from the sand and sea air.

So after two weeks there were some favorite food spots and photo locales from the trip. These are highly recommended.